2015 Invisible Illness Week

The following photos were all submitted to me for the “Invisible Fight” photo gallery I posted in honor of Invisible Illness Week’s 2015 #myinvisiblefight Photo Campaign. So many amazingly powerful and creative photos were shared that hopefully created awareness and healing. Thank you to all of you who shared your #myinvisiblefight.

#myinvisiblefight — ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬: finding peace, light and some kind of joy in the midst of, not in spite of, chronic pain and illness.

#myinvisiblefight — ‪#‎MyInvisableFight‬ No one sees the migraines I have. The excrutiating pain that shoots through my head and incapacitates me for hours on end…often lasting for days. No one sees the persistent daily headaches I live with all the time. They can’t see the cognitive issues I fight. Even those who know, they can’t see it, and can’t understand.

#myinvisiblefight — My fiancé’s invisible fight is living with kidney disease, undergoing dialysis three days a week and holding out for a kidney transplant.

#myinvisiblefight — Sometimes I wonder how much is me and how much is pain. #myinvisiblefight

#myinvisiblefight — Falls are a common problem for me and I’m always scared I will break something bad. ‪#‎myInvisibleFight‬

#myinvisiblefight — No one sees the layers of scars, the turmoil, the spiraling of my mind racing, brain fog, or the feeling of spiraling down into the pain hole and having no more energy to climb out. No one sees the fiery piercing swords that impale my mind, body and soul. I can hide it well. Only a few very close family members and friends can see through my smile and sunglasses. ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬

myinvisiblefight — Sitting is my invisible fight.

#myinvisiblefight — Interstitial Cystitis

Driving. Especially at night.

#myinvisiblefight — Actual weight = minuscule vs my weight = the world.

#myinvisiblefight — Not playing or walking with my dog.

#myinvisiblefight — Migraine Aura is #myinvisiblefight

Invisible illness makes me feel fenced in, trapped, isolated.

#myinvisiblefight — ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬ comes on like a descending curtain, often completely unexpected. It’s heavy and bleak. But my fight is also more visible as I start to pull back my own curtain and expose my reality to others.

#myinvisiblefight — Vertigo – the photo snapped as I was spinning, literally, around to try to fall on the bed and not get hurt.

#myinvisiblefight — My invisible fight: sitting. Right now, climbing stairs is a fight as well.

#myinvisiblefight — ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬: My feet, newly diagnosed with neuropothy…Always searching for a comfortable shoe. Never successful. Add this to current issues, the walking I loved to do is over I fear.

#myinvisiblefight — ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬: groceries–walking, lifting, pushing, driving, carrying up my mother’s stairs

#myinvisiblefight — I must use an inflatable wedge to elevate my upper body, a homemade bed cradle to keep the covers from causing foot pain, and I have to constantly reposition seven pillows & foam pads under me just to be able to get any decent sleep.

#myinvisiblefight — I have lost 120 pounds in just 1 year and I keep losing more[…] To most people they see an achievement. But every time I look in the mirror, I feel almost disgusted. I didn’t work hard to lose this weight. Medication made me lose this weight. Being in too much pain to eat made me lose this weight. ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬

#myinvisiblefight — My pain prevents me from riding my motorcycle, and I hate that. This bike represents my freedom, joy, and exuberance for life, just like riding a bike as fast as you could was the ultimate joy when I was a child.

#myinvisiblefight — Self-explanatory

#myinvisiblefight — Will I have enough spoons to get out the door today?

#myinvisiblefight — Should I try to go up the stairs or the sloped driveway? Living at my parents’ home is great, if I can just force my knees to get me up to the door.

#myinvisiblefight — #myinvisiblefight – getting in and out of tub, vacuuming, stairs, reaching.

#myinvisiblefight — I struggle with more than just ‪#‎narcolepsy‬ — but this is a very visible reminder of ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬

#myinvisiblefight — ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬: biologics and step therapy.

#myinvisiblefight — Pushed through the pain to tattoo my sisters name on my she is disabled with a mind of a 4 or 5 yr old and called herself butterfly it’s her real signature in the purple ribbon that also is for epilepsy awareness! ! Pain is not as bad as fibro pain..but this is me everyday putting up a front to everyone that I’m not in pain even though my daily pain is an 8! I refuse to give in I have things I want to do so I just keep pushing forward!

#myinvisiblefight

#myinvisiblefight — “…Ive spent most of my life in public and private physc hospitals. In may 2013 i took a lethal overdose and was on life support for 10 days. The tube severley damaged my airway and vocal cords and as a result i have a condition called Posterior Glottic Stenosis with Bilateral Vocal Cord Fixation. Ive had 13 surgeries to try fix the damage all unsuccessful. I now have a tracheostomy. In 1 weeks time i will be having major surgery to remove half my voice box to hopefully give me an airway…”

#myinvisiblefight — Showers are meant to be relaxing and refreshing but for me they are a battle to stay conscious and protect my chest port ‪#‎myinvisiblefight‬

#myinvisiblefight — #‎MyInvisibleFight‬ Sitting is painfully difficult. I always keep pillows in my car to use when I have to sit on uncomfortable chairs at meetings, restaurants, church, or theaters. At home I use an even taller stack of them to ease tailbone, hip & back pain — but it’s always a struggle. Just call me a “pillow wrangler”

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